A Christian Coptic Orthodox Monastery in Lower Egypt. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The U.S.-based Egyptian Christian human rights group Coptic Solidarity says that it is “extremely alarmed” about the possible inclusion of Sharia law in Egypt’s new constitution.

“Coptic Solidarity is extremely alarmed that the Egyptian committee tasked with constitutional revisions may be succumbing to intense pressure by Islamists to even further enshrine Sharia as the basis of the constitution,” the group said in a press release.

Coptic Solidarity added, “The effect will be only to institutionalize discrimination and persecution of all religious minorities such as Copts, Baha’i, Shia Muslims, and Jews.”

A constitutional committee of 50 members appointed by Egypt’s military-backed government is currently developing a draft constitution that will be put to a referendum in December, Reuters reported. But ultraconservative Salafi extremist groups have been very vocal in pushing for strict interpretations of Sharia law in Egypt’s new constitution, according to the Gatestone Institute.